Super Fitness Health BlogThe History of Champagne
Champagne is a single Appellation d’Origine Controlee. As a general rule, grapes used must be the white Chardonnay, or the black Pinot Noir or Pinot Meunier. The black Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier give the wine its length and backbone. They are predominantly grown in two areas – the Montagne de Reims and the Valee de la Marne. Champagne from these areas are perfect to send as Champagne Gifts to your friends. Courier services throughout the country have made Champagne delivery safe and secure.
The Montagne de Reims run east-west to the south of Reims, in northern Champagne. They are notable for north-facing chalky slopes that derive heat from the warm winds rising from the valleys below. The River Marne runs west-east through Champagne, south of the Montagne de Reims. The Valee de la Marne contains south-facing chalky slopes. Chardonnay gives the wine its acidity and biscuit flavour.
The majority of Chardonnay is grown in a north-south-running strip to the south of Epernay, called the Cote des Blanc, including the villages of Avize, Oger and Le Mesnil-Sur-Oger. These are east-facing vineyards, with terroir similar to the Cote de Beaune. The various terroirs account for the differences in grape characteristics and explain the appropriateness of blending juice from different grape varieties and geographical areas within Champagne, to get the desired style for each Champagne house.
Champagne is typically light in color even if it is produced with red grapes, because the juice is extracted from the grapes using a gentle process that minimizes the amount of time the juice spends in contact with the skins, which is what gives red wine its colour. Rose wines are produced throughout France by leaving the clear juice of black grapes to macerate on its skins for a brief time. Rose Champagne is notable as it is the only wine that allows the production of Rose by the addition a small amount of red wine during blending. This ensures a predictable and reproducible colour, allowing a constant Rose colour from year-to-year.
Champagne first gained world renown because of its association with the anointment of French kings. Royalty from throughout Europe spread the message of the unique sparkling wine from Champagne and its association with luxury and power. The leading manufacturers devoted considerable energy to creating a history and identity for their wine, associating it and themselves with nobility and royalty. Through advertising and packaging they sought to associate champagne with high luxury, festivities and rites of passage. Their efforts coincided with an emerging middle class that was looking for ways to spend its money on symbols of upward mobility.
In 1866 the famous entertainer and star of his day, George Leybourne, began a career of making celebrity endorsements for Champagne. The Champagne maker Moet commissioned him to write and perform songs extolling the virtues of Champagne, especially as a reflection of taste, affluence, and the good life. He also agreed to drink nothing but Champagne in public. Leybourne was seen as highly sophisticated and his image and efforts did much to establish Champagne as an important element in enhancing social status. It was a marketing triumph, the results of which endure to this day.
In the 1800s Champagne was noticeably sweeter than the modern Champagne is today, The trend towards drier Champagne began when Perrier-Jouet decided not to sweeten his 1846 vintage prior to exporting it to London. The designation Brut Champagne, the modern Champagne, was created for the British in 1876.
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